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Five minutes later, Emmaline had Hadley handcuffed and locked in the back of the cruiser, where Hadley was sobbing At least she couldn’t hurt herself (or the car) if she was cuffed, and she’d done h to earn it There were a few leaves in Hadley’s tangled hair and raccoon eyes froainst the cruiser, breathing hard She wasn’t , and her shin throbbed
Okay, first things first "I’ll be right back," she told her passenger
Emmaline went inside to the bedroolass, then closed the door so tooLevi, and then decided he didn’t need to hear about this just yet He had other things on his mind
She went back outside, opened the door of the cruiser for Sarge and got behind the wheel "Is your sister still in town?" she asked
"No! I’ve got no one and nowhere to go!"
"Have you always depended on the kindness of strangers?"
"As a matter of fact, yes!"
Okay, Blanche DuBois Em stifled an eye roll
She’d take Hadley to the station, because she didn’t have time to babysit her at her apartment She was the officer on call today Hadley could just sit tight in the holding cell and sober up
Em rubbed a spot on her jahere Hadley’s head had sla day
Ten minutes later, they were at the station
"You ?" Carol Robinson asked when Eh Emmaline had tied Hadley’s coat closed, it barely cleared her ass Also, Hadley had refused to put on her shoes "Isn’t that Jack Holland’s wife?"
"Ex-wife," Ehtly "Everett, unlock the cell for me"
Hadley arched her back as they walked down the hall, still trying to get away "Don’t! Not in there! Please! Not that! I can’t stand that!"
"It’s not exactly a pit in the ground, Hadley," she said as Everett opened the holding cell door "You’ll just stay here for a little while There’s a blanket on the bed Get warentle push in and closed the cell door "I’ll bring you so to wear"
"Please! Please don’t lock me up!" Hadley pressed a fist to her mouth and sobbed like she’d just seen The Notebook for the first ti at Hadley’s outfit (or lack thereof), hisopen Eht, sorry," Everett said "What happened to you? You look awful You’re all dirty"
"Emmaline, you’re filthy," Carol pointed out
"Yes, I know" Em went to her locker, where she kept a clean unifora pants and a MPD sweatshirt She pulled the latter two out and handed the these to Meryl Streep, okay? And ask her if she’s hungry"
"Is Meryl Streep here?" Everett asked
Emmaline closed her eyes "No, Ev I meant Hadley The woman in the cell"
Carol went back down the hall, and a second later, Hadley bellowed, "These are way! Too! Big!" followed byhard not to giggle "She wants to know if she gets a phone call," she said
"She can have one when she sobers up a little" Euest of the to, not just Jack’s ex-wife
But it was hard to know if she was treating Hadley like she’d treat anyone else, becausetoo nice Hadley had driven under the influence; so her rant on the way to the station, she’d admitted that, and her car was parked half on Blue Heron’s lawn, half on the driveway She’d thrown a rock through a hich constituted cri a police officer, ht he’d do pretty much what she’d already done Give her time to cool down, then deliver a stern lecture, naainst her and tell her to grow up
Yeah All in all, Eood job
She washed up and changed into her uniform, brushed her hair and put it in its customary bun Took a few deep breaths and left the locker room
"Levi called," Carol said "John Holland, the old one, had a heart attack, and he’s being admitted, so he’ll be at the hospital with Faith"
"How’s Mr Holland doing?" Emmaline asked
"He didn’t really say Maybe you should ask Jack"
"Yeah Anything else?"
"Yep" Carol handed her a few es, then sat back down at her desk
Typical stuff for a weekday Mrs McPhales thought she saw a trespasser So or possibly a coyote in their backyard A speeder past Phyllis Nebbins’s house The Knoxes’ free-range chickens were causing traffic danger Dalton hadn’t shown up for school
Eo out on these calls Everett, keep an eye on Hadley, okay?"
"You bet," he said, going back to his coave him a look and left
WHEN EMMALINE GOT back to the station a couple of hours later, Everett ht have a probleood"
"Shit" She ran down the hall to the holding cell
Hadley was sitting on the floor, practically drowning in E, and the s into the cell "You okay?"
"Please letco all right now?"
"Can I
"Absolutely" Emmaline led her out of the cell and into the station proper "We’re not charging you with anything Not yet, anyway I just wanted you to be safe You were prettywild before Do you remember that?"
She nodded Em sat her at the desk and handed her the receiver "Just dial nine to get an outside line," she said Then she took a few steps away so as not to eavesdrop
This wasn’t good
"What happened?" Carol asked